The Washington State Cougars showed nothing but resilience on Friday afternoon, securing a 9-7 victory over the Texas State Bobcats in the first game of a doubleheader that day. The win improved the Cougars’ record to 6-7, while the Bobcats fell to 10-3.

Texas State jumped out to an early lead at Bobcat Ballpark, scoring twice in the first inning and adding three more in the third to build a 5-1 advantage. However, the WSU offense ignited in the fourth inning. Ryan Skjonsby sparked the comeback with a double that drove in Mason Pirello, and freshman catcher Alexandre Giguère followed with a three-run home run to left-center field, leveling the score at 5-5.

The Bobcats briefly regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI groundout to make it 6-5, but WSU starting pitcher Nick Lewis stepped in and provided scoreless fifth and sixth innings.

The Cougars took control in the seventh inning with a three-run rally. Trevor Smith scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, and Kyler Northrop followed with a double before scoring on Dustin Robinson’s RBI groundout. Max Hartman then crossed the plate on another wild pitch to give WSU an 8-6 lead. Giguère capped off his stellar performance with a no-doubt solo home run in the eighth inning to extend the cushion.

The Cougar offense totaled eight hits on the day, while the pitching staff combined for a season-high 13 strikeouts. Despite committing two defensive errors, WSU held off a late Texas State run in the eighth inning to secure the victory. Texas State finished the afternoon with 11 hits and one error.

Kaden Wickersham earned his first win of the season (1-0) after coming on in relief during the sixth inning. Lewis delivered six innings of work, striking out a season-high seven batters. Scott Rienguette recorded the final eight outs of the game to earn his second save of the season. Texas State’s Titan Targac took the loss.